ANAHEIM, Calif. — Rickard Rakell broke a tie with his second goal with 2:34 to play, and the Anaheim Ducks snapped Boston’s four-game winning streak under new coach Bruce Cassidy with a 5-3 victory over the Bruins on Wednesday night.
Rakell also scored in the second period for the Ducks and has 24 goals in his outstanding season. Ondrej Kase, Josh Manson and Andrew Cogliano also scored for Anaheim, and Jonathan Bernier made 26 saves in his first victory since Jan. 23.
Frank Vatrano scored the tying goal in the third period for the Bruins, who hadn’t lost since Cassidy replaced Claude Julien on Feb. 7. Defencemen Brandon Carlo and Zdeno Chara scored early goals, and Tuukka Rask stopped 20 shots.
Anaheim beat Boston for the seventh straight time.
The Ducks also kept pace with Edmonton for second place in the Pacific Division race with a wild finish.
Anaheim killed five Boston power plays, but Vatrano slipped behind Manson and scored on a breakaway with 8:25 left. Rakell then tapped in the winning goal after the puck deflected off Corey Perry, who had two assists.
Cogliano got credit for an empty-net goal with 48.7 seconds left when Torey Krug hooked him to the ice with a clear path to the net.
Bernier started his second straight game in place of John Gibson, a late scratch with a lower-body injury.
Forward Nic Kerdiles made his NHL debut for the Ducks, becoming the first player from Orange County to suit up for Anaheim.
Kerdiles lived in Irvine for most of his childhood and regularly attended games at Honda Center before the club drafted him in 2012. The 23-year-old scorer missed several months earlier this season with a concussion, but has played 10 outstanding games for the Ducks’ AHL affiliate in San Diego.
After Carlo opened the scoring, Kase evened it early in the second with his first goal in 19 games since Jan. 6. The Czech rookie’s goal was just the Ducks’ fifth in their last 258 minutes of play.
Chara added his sixth goal of the season, but Rakell evened it again when Rask accidentally back-heeled a rebound into his own net.
Manson then put the Ducks ahead with his third goal in 62 games — and his second in three games.
Matt Beleskey returned to the Bruins’ lineup after sitting as a healthy scratch in two of the previous three games. The longtime Ducks forward, who got a $19.8 million contract from Boston after scoring a career-best 22 goals for Anaheim in 2014-15, hasn’t had a goal in 17 games since Nov. 19.
NOTES: Manson also scored at Boston in December. … The Ducks recalled Jhonas Enroth from San Diego to back up Bernier. Enroth, acquired from Toronto in December, has suited up for five NHL teams in just over two years. … Boston F Tim Schaller was scratched for the second time in three games. … Chara played his 798th game for the Bruins, the most by a European player in franchise history.
UP NEXT
Bruins: At Kings on Thursday.
Ducks: At Kings on Saturday.
[relatedlinks]
